PRESUMPTUOUS POETRY. 21 



with vices of all sorts, we shall hardly find a more sickly specimen 

 of bad taste than the description we are about to quote, which one of 

 the critics was pleased to consider very fine : 



" Morn hath walked forth, and edged them with the trace 

 Of her auriferous footsteps, tinged the skies 

 With her own rose-tipped fingers, and the clouds 

 Kissed to the ripe hue of her coral lips 

 The intense suffusion of her lustrous cheeks. 

 What strife of love is on the orient hill, 

 Deep blush, and rival ardour of desire! 

 The enamoured breezes press to her embrace," &c. 



Mr. Heraud appears occasionally to suspect that the too sceptical 

 reader may be inclined to doubt his facts. He accordingly takes the 

 prudent precaution of reiterating an assertion in the most positive and 

 elaborate manner. Take the following agreeable specimen. No one 

 surely will venture, after this responsible and weighty assertion, to 

 question its truth : 



' c And lo, before her Samaisa stands ! 

 She shrieks, and on the palace floor she falls, 

 Soon at his feet she falls, and there she lies ; 

 There prostrate at his feet, even where she fell, 

 Not dead, but speechless, Amazarah lies ; 

 At her son's feet, fallen speechless, but not dead, 

 The queen lies prostrate on that palace floor." 



Our poet is a great creator of laughter. Far be it from us to inti- 

 mate that he purposes the reader shall join in the pleasantry he de- 

 scribes. Let us select a few specimens. 



At the burial of Lamech, a dispute arises as to the particular me- 

 thod in which the remains of the prophet should be disposed of. A 

 false prophet being appealed to, ridicules the idea of embalming, 

 burning, and burying the dead : 



" And then he laughed, 



So wild, and loud, and long, that all the rocks 

 And burial places in that field of graves, 

 Echoed the bitter mockery of that laugh ; 

 Loud pealed the same from Jared's sepulchre, 

 MahalaleePs replied to his dread mirth, 

 Cainan's that laugh resounded, and the vault 

 Of Enoch was alive with that mad voice; 

 And Seth's twin-pillared temple of repose 

 Was wakened with the hoarse profanity ; 

 And Adam's tomb reverberated deep 

 The cachinnation." 



But what is this laugh to the laughter that takes place in another 

 part of the poem ? The Rephaim, giant twins, having been twice 

 baffled in their attempt upon the life of Noah, turn their rage upon 

 each other. This is the result : 



" Long time was either by the other held 



At bay their weapons clasped, but to protect 

 And not to wound until at length at length 

 Dagger of each was close at heart of each, 

 Mutually crossed ; then each in other's face 



